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Sample   Projects 

Second  Series 


Copyright  1921  by  James  Fleming  Hosic 


506  West  69th  Street 
Chicago 


Preface 

The  second  series  of  sample  projects  is  issued  in  pursuance  of  the 
plan  announced  in  the  first  number,   published   in    September,    1! 
Since  many  are  using  the  material  for  study  in  courses  in  educatioij 
a  number  of  contributions  have  been  included  to  provide  the  basis  f( 
discussion  of  various  moot  questions.     For  example,  can  projects 
classified?     If  so,  how?     Is  it  useful  to  attempt  it?     Can  the  teacht 
plan  in  advance  or  must  she  depend  entirely  upon  chance  to  determii 
her  course?    Do  projects  always  involve  correlations?    Do  they  alwa^ 
proceed  to  some  objective  result? 

How   can^  projects  be  most  usefully  described?     What  are  th< 

•  ;  .*.  adv$n.tscgpes;  pnjd  disadvantages  of   indicating  certain  definite  steps  or 

"i "."  stage*  in  JtKe' 'process?    Should  the  writer  take  the  point  of  view  of  the 

.   .  ,  ,.  teacjier?    pf«0the*.pupils ?    Or  of  both?    Which  feature  of  the  account 

/.*•. •  !•*  I/is'-ol  'grfeaJteft'.vaKie  to  .other  teachers? 

This  series  is  introduced  with  a  criticism  and  analysis  of  a  piece 
of  project  work  done  in  a  class  in  English  conducted  as  a  demonstra- 
tion class  for  students  in  the  summer  session  of  Teachers  College, 
by  Miss  Olive  Ely  Hart,  head  of  the  department  of  English  in 
the  South  Philadelphia  High  School  for  Girls.  An  account  of  this 
work  by  Miss  Hart  herself  will  be  found  in  the  English  Journal  for 
November,  1920,  under  the  title,  "Friends  by  Mail."  It  was  thought 
that  this  criticism  would  serve  as  an  outline  for  similar  studies.  A 
more  formal  outline,  by  the  editor  of  the  series,  which  appeared  ;.n  the 
English  Journal  for  November,  1918,  has  also  been  included  1  meet 
urgent  requests  for  it. 

To  those  who  have  permitted  the  printing  of  their  accqunts  in 
this  pamphlet  thanks  are  due.  Many  of  them  are  numbered  among 
the  original  subscribers  to  the  enterprise.  Others  have  both  contributed 
and  subscribed.  The  task  of  developing  the  ideal  embodied  more  or 
less  clearly  in  these  accounts  will  now  be  taken  up  by  the  newly  organ- 
ized National  Conference  on  Educational  Method  and  its  monthly 
journal. 

JAMES  FLEMING  HOSTC. 

Chicago,  March,  1921. 


A  Composition  Project  in  the  Junior  High  School 

Rose  A.  Carrigan,  Assistant  Director  of  Probationary  Teaching, 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  work  chosen  for  discussion  in  this  paper  was  a  project  of  cor- 
responding with  the  Szecho-Slovak  cripple  children  of  Dr.  Bakule's 
school  in  Prague. 
CRITERIA  FOR  JUDGING  THE  WORK 

1.  Was  there  whole-hearted  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  children 
or  was  the  work  imposed  upon  them  ? 

2.  Did  the  work  involve  a  true  life  experience,  which  made  it  a 
worth-while  undertaking  ? 

3.  Were  the  pupils  permitted  to  do  genuine  thinking? 


, 


4.  Were  there  resulting  values  from  the  standpoint  of  a  school 
curriculum  built  upon  the  needs  of   society  and  the  abilities  of  the 
children? 

5.  Was  the  role  played  by  the  teacher  in  keeping  with  the  phil- 
osophy underlying  learning  through  projects? 

6.  Does  the  character  of  this  project  and  the  method  of  working 
it  out  promise  a  "leading  on"  to  further  activity? 

v  EVIDENCE  AND  DISCUSSION 
I 

Wras  there  whole-hearted  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  children  or 
was  the  work  imposed  upon  them? 

The  approach  to  the  work  was  made  through  a  visit  to  the  project 
exhibit,  better  known  as  the  project  study  room,  an  accessory  to 
Dr.  Hosic's  course  in  "Project  Teaching  Applied  to  Education."  The 
children  went  with  a  definite  purpose  in  mind.  They  went  to  see  what 
a  group  of  Czecho-Slovak  children  had  sent  to  America  by  way  of 
introducing  themselves  and  becoming  acquainted  with  American  chil- 
dren. There  they  saw  the  pictures  of  these  children  and  read  letters 
from  them  in  which  they  told  much  about  their  own  lives.  Accom- 
panying the  pictures  and  letters  were  beautiful  wood  cuts  which  the 
foreign  children  had  made  to  illustrate  one  of  Kipling's  "Just  So 
Stories."  These  the  Horace  Mann  Children  examined  witfy  interest. 

At  a  later  lesson  these  young  people  showed  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  deep  seated  interest  in  the  Czcho-Slovak  cripples  and  eager- 
ness to  know  them  better.  They  discussed  their  impressions  in  class 
with  naturalness  and  freedom.  They  commented  upon  the  afflicted 
children's  perseverance  in  the  face  of  great  difficulty  and  endeavored 
to  work  out  a  reason  which  might  have  occasioned  such  persistence. 
They  contrasted  the  conduct  of  these  willing  workers  with  the  greater 
indifference  towards  work  of  our  American  children,  and  tried  to 
decide  the  cause.  In  response  to  the  teacher's  question  as  to  what  they 
might  do  about  it,  it  was  proposed  by  a  member  of  the  class  that  they 
reply  to  the  letters  they  had  read.  It  was  explained  that  the  response 
must  be  a  group  response  and  therefore  all  would  need  to  participate 
in  the  thing  together.  All  agreed  to  the  proposal  and  at  once  entered 
into  the  planning  with  zest.  Ted,  the  overgrown  boy  in  the  class,  said 
he  had  a  picture  of  Niagara  Falls,  which  he  had  taken  himself  and  he 
would  send  that.  There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  purposeful  activity 
with  which  the  individuals  of  this  class  responded  to  the  situation  and 
decided  to  get  into  correspondence  with  the  crippled  children  of 
Czecho-Slovakia.  The  start  had  all  the  earmarks  of  work  purposed 
within  and  not  imposed  from  without. 

II 

Did  the  work  involve  a  true  life  experience  which  made  it  a  worth- 
while undertaking?  Is  corresponding  with  real  human  beings  who 
have  impressed  themselves  upon  our  attention  in  some  significant  way 
a  true  life  experience?  Is  letting  the  heart  go  out  in  sympathy  and 
understanding  to  the  oppressed  and  sorrowful  of  worth  while  value? 
Is  extending  the  hand  of  comradeship  to  the  heavily  burdened  a 
worthy  undertaking?  Is  getting  into  sympathetic  relationship  with 


lives  worked  out  in  circumstances  foreign  to  our  own  a  characteristic 
of  worthy  democratic  living?  If  the  answer  to  each  of  these  questions 
is  "Yes,"  then  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  Miss  Hart's  children  em- 
barked on  an  enterprise  which  is  a  complete  life  experience,  indeed, 
exceedingly  worth  while. 

Ill 

Were  the  children  permitted  to  do  genuine  thinking  ? 

When  one  is  conscious  of  a  need  and  seeks  to  satisfy  that  need  by 
testing  out  suggestions  that  come  to  mind,  there  is  geinuine  thinking. 
As  has  already  been  stated,  the  children  were  tremendously  impressed 
by  the  persistency  of  the  Slovak  children  in  spite  of  their  great  handi- 
caps. So  impressed  by  this  were  they  that  they  attempted  to  analyze 
the  situation  to  find  out  how  it  could  happen  that  children  so  afflicted 
should  persevere  in  the  face  of  great  difficulty  until  accomplishment 
crowned  their  efforts.  One  suggested  that,  unlike  themselves,  there 
was  nothing  else  that  the  cripples  could  do,  so  they  might  as  well  work, 
but  another  wiser  child  suggested  that  their  great  need  of  earning  a 
living  was  the  true  source  of  their  strength.  This  led  to  the  threshing 
out  of  the  subject  of  ideals  of  conduct,  and  here  there  was  indication 
of  much  genuine  thinking. 

Later  the  pupils  faced  the  need  of  working  out  a  practical  plan 
of  procedure  in  their  enterprise  of  correspondence.  A  plan  to  have 
their  pictures  taken  to  send  was  settled  upon  and  carried  out  before  the 
next  lesson.  Little  by  little  other  details  were  settled.  It  did  not 
take  them  long  to  find  out  that  since  it  was  a  group  undertaking  there 
ought  not  to  be  duplication  in  the  individual  letters.  Consideration  of 
a  point  of  contact  between  their  own  lives  and  the  lives  of  their  corre- 
spondents also  featured  in  their  final  plans.  At  last  it  was  definitely 
decided  what  line  of  attack  would  be  made  by  each  writer  and  in 
general  of  what  her  letter  would  treat. 

A  difficulty  which  they  had  to  face  and  solve  was  the  fact  that 
the  Red  Cross  authorities,  who  were  responsible  for  the  coming  of  the 
exhibit,  would  sanction  correspondence  of  the  Slovak  children  with  a 
school  as  a  group  only,  and  not  with  individuals.  This  was  a  little 
disconcerting  and  disappointing  as  the  fall  would  find  the  children 
distributed  in  the  different  school  buildings.  They  attacked  this  prob- 
lem and  suggested  several  tentative  solutions. 

These  illustrations  furnish,  perhaps,  sufficient  evidence  to  prove 
that  the  project  was  provocative  of  genuine  thinking  in  real  situations. 

IV 

Were  there  resulting  values  from  the  standpoint  of  a  school  curri- 
culum built  upon  the  needs  of  society  and  the  abilities  of  the  children  ? 

One  of  the  great  needs  that  exist  in  our  world  at  the  present  time 
is  that  of  getting  individuals  of  different  nations  to  become  acquainted 
in  personal  ways,  that  they  may  thereby  know  and  understand  each 
other  better.  If  the  children  of  the  present  generation  cultivate  such 
acquaintance  now,  may  we  not  hope  that  the  effect  will  be  a  lessening 
of  the  chances  of  having  another  great  war  in  the  future?  We  are 
afraid  of  what  we  do  not  know ;  we  hate  because  we  have  not  seen  the 
qualities  which  merit  love.  What  social  value  can  be  greater  than  the 
cultivation  of  the  personal  touch,  the  mutual  understanding,  which 

3 


leads  to  the  love  of  our  neighbor  whom  we  have  begun  to  appreciate 
and  understand.  A  school  curriculum  which  does  not  provide  lavishly 
for  this  development  is  not  worthy  of  a  place  in  our  educational 
scheme.  This  project  takes  account  of  this  social  need. 

But  the  school  curriculum  must  also  provide  for  certain  skills  and 

abilities  of  which  society  has  need.  A  few  of  these  in  the  field  of 
English  composition  are  ability  to  think  clearly  and  speak  convincingly ; 
to  write  a  technically  correct  letter  which  holds  the  interest  of  the 
correspondent,  and  provokes  a  response.  It  is  the  belief  of  the  writer 
that  the  project  which  is  under  discussion  in  this  paper  contributed  in 
full  measure  to  the  development  of  these  skills  and  abilities. 

At  first  the  children,  with  the  exception  of  Pauline,  admitted  that 
they  did  not  know  how  to  begin  their  letters.  An  hour's  discussion, 
however,  apparently  clarified  their  thoughts  and  in  oral  preliminary 
planning  the  way  was  prepared  for  the  inclusion  of  much  interesting 
material.  One  would  predict  fine  success  in  the  final  letters.*  The  urge 

is  so  strong  that  the  best  of  workmanship  on  the  mechanics,  too,  will 
undoubtedly  be  forthcoming  to  match  that  of  the  letters  received. 

The  first  responding  letter  ready  was  written  and  read  by  Pauline. 
It  was  remarkably  well  done  and  indicated  that  the  enterprise  was 
wholly  within  her  power.  She  defended  her  omission  of  the  informa- 
tion that  she  was  born  in  Russia  on  the  ground  that  she  had  decided 
to  reserve  that  for  a  second  letter  after  an  introductory  acquaintance 
had  been  established.  Note  that  she  hoped  for  and  expected  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  correspondence.  A  wealth  of  social  values  was  pro- 
vided by  this  project.  The  work  was  within  the  ability  of  the  children. 

V 

Were  the  roles  played  by  the  teacher  in  keeping  with  the  phil- 
osophy underlying  learning  through  projects? 

The  role  of  the  teacher,  as  the  writer  understands  it,  is  in  every 
case  to  further  in  any  way  she  can  the  purposeful  activities  of  the 
children  throughout  the  stages  of  the  development  of  a  project,  i.  e., 
from  the  launching  to  the  final  issue  of  success  or  defeat;  also,  she 
must  see  to  it  that  the  social  and  other  educational  values  already  dis- 
cussed are  not  missing.  Later  she  will  check  the  products.  Was  Miss 
Hart  true  to  these  trusts?  It  seems  to  the  writer  that  she  was.  She 
began  by  so  setting  the  stage  that  interest  in  these  foreign  children 
would  result;  she  placed  her  class  under  the  magic  influence  of  their 
pictures  and  work.  The  following  day  she  brought  to  her  pupils'  con- 
sciousness anew  the  appreciation  of  these  little  sufferers  when  she 
asked,  "What  was  your  impression?  Did  you  get  anything  mightier 
than  the  physical  defects?"  Next  she  played  the  role  of  leader  when 
she  opened  the  way  to  decisive  action  by  her  question,  "WThat  do  you 
think  we  ought  to  do  about  it?"  She  gave  the  needed  help  when  she 
threw  into  high  light  their  tendency  to  duplicate  what  another  had 
said,  and  when,  little  by  little,  she  stimulated  them  to  realize  that  every 

*The  letters  were  up  to  expectation  and  were  taken  to  Europe  by  Dr.  Hosic 
to  be  shown  to  educators  and  finally  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  children  in 
Dr.  Bakule's  School. 


letter  must  contain  the  vital  factor  of  a  contact  of  interest  between  the 
writer  and  the  reader.  Again,  she  co-operated  when,  in  give  and  take 
discussion,  her  offering  set  an  ideal  in  taste,  or  suggested  that  the 
writer  use  imagination  and  put  herself  in  the  reader's  place.  "Is  he 
likely  to  be  interested  in  that?"  "Why?"  "Why  not?" 

VI 

Does  the  character  of  this  project  and  the  method  of  working  it 
out  give  promise  of  "leading  on"  ? 

Already  Miss  Hart's  children  have  been  at  no  small  pains  to  cir- 
cumvent the  conditions  laid  down  by  the  Red  Cross,  which  provide  that 
correspondence  shall  be  with  a  school  group  only.  Each  member  of 
the  class  wishes  to  continue  to  get  news  from  Dr.  Bakule's  children 
during  the  coming  year.  The  class  problem  in  this  connection,  as  has 
already  been  stated,  is,  "How  can  we  manage  this  since,  in  the  fall, 
our  class  will  be  scattered  in  many  schools?"  They  expect  to  find  a 
way.  This  indicates  their  desire  to  continue  the  enterprise  started  at 
the  summer  session. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  other  "carrying  on"  as  well  will  result. 
Improvement  in  the  quality  of  their  letters  is  bound  to  result  from 
their  zeal  to  write  as  well  and  as  interestingly  as  did  the  Czecho-Slovak 
children. 

CONCLUSIONS 

It  seems  to  the  writer  that  no  more  impelling  group  project  than 
the  one  which  is  the  subject  of  this  paper  could  be  desired  in  a  school. 
The  outcomes  from  the  standpoint  of  educational  criteria  and  social 
usefulness  are  bound  to  be  highly  satisfactory.  The  situation  which 
made  this  project  possible  happens  to  be  unique,  it  is  true,  but  the 
ingenious  teacher  can  find  other  and  various  means  for  engaging  the 
interest  of  the  children  in  enterprises  which  will  furnish  real  life  expe- 
riences as  fraught  with  excellent  results  as  was  this  composition 
project. 

r 

The  Project  Method  of  Teaching 

I.  What  the  Project  is: 

A.  Organization   of  school   life  in  accordance  with  life  in  the 
home  and  community — a  "project"  is  a  single  complete  unit 
of  purposeful  experience. 

B.  Not  to  be  exactly  identified  with  motivation,  interest,   self- 
activity,    socialization,    correlation,    recapitulation,    develop- 
mental method,  incidental  teaching,  self-government,  natural- 
ism, though  indebted  more  or  less  to  all  these  concepts. 

C.  A  principle  of  education,  not  a  rule  of  procedure,  a  formal 
"general"  method,  panacea  or  new  discovery. 

D.  Makes  no  claim  to  embrace  the  whole  of  learning  nor  every 
type  of  useful  experience. 

II.  Why  the  name? 

A.  "Method  of  experience"  is  too  broad  and  too  vague. 

B.  "Problem"  suggests  a  purely  intellectual  process. 

C.  "Project"  emphasizes  both  thinking  and  doing. 

5 


III.     The  need  and  value  of  the  Project  Method : 

A.  School    studies    tend    to    become    exceedingly    formal — then 
social  origins  and  uses  are  too  often  lost  sight  of. 

B.  Hence  they  fail  to  provide  children  with  real  and   fruitful 
experiences  leading  to  actual  control  of  social  values. 

C.  A  true  project  provides  a  complete  ''life  unit";  the  elements 
are  as  follows:  situation,  problem,  purpose   (end  in  view), 
plan,  criticism  of  plan,  execution,  organization  and  judgment 
of  results,  appreciation  (of  values). 

D.  It  enables  the  learner  to  obtain  for  the  control  of  experience 
major  parts  of  the  social  inheritance  (solutions  of  life  prob- 
lems) which  the  school  is  supposed  to  hand  on. 

E.  It  utilizes  the  principles  of   modern  educational  psychology 
and  gives   due  emphasis  to  attitudes    (interests  and  ideals) 
both  as  conditioning  the  acquisition  of  skills  and  knowledges 
and  as  sharing  with  them  the  place  of  honor  among  the  re- 
sults aimed  at. 

F.  It  is  economical  in  that  it  provides  for  a  wealth  of  related 
and  concomitant  ideas  centering  about  the  core  of   experi- 
ence which  constitutes  a  given  "lesson." 

G.  It  adds  to  the  units  of  organization  now  available  for  class 
work  or  individual  study,  namely,  the  question,  the  topic,  the 
chapter,  the  lesson,  etc.,  a  new  type  of  unit  with  large  possi- 
bilities. 

IV.     The  Project  Method  in  relation  to  present  school  practice  : 

A.  Serious  difficulties  lie  in  the  way  of  an  attempt  to  introduce 
in  a  thorough-going  way  the  Project  Method  into  our  schools 
as  now  organized  and  conducted. 

1.  A  different  tradition  prevails. 

2.  More  knowledge   of   learning  processes,   more  technical 
skill,  and  more  scholarship  are  required  than  for  the  use 
of  "logical"  or  "formal"  method — the  teacher  must  play 
various  roles. 

3.  It  is  difficult  to  organize  a  system  of  projects  so  as  to 
provide  for  the  entire  body  of  attitudes,  skills,  and  knowl- 
edges which  we  wish  children  to  gain  in  school. 

4.  Time  is  easily  wasted  by  over-emphasis  on  some  phase  of 
the  process — even  on  "teaching  children  to  think." 

5.  The  course  of  study  must  be  largely  reorganized  and  re- 
written. 

6.  School  equipment  must  be  adapted. 

7.  New  measures  of  results  must  be  applied. 


Chickens — and  Some  Other  Things 

Beth  P.  Barton,  Everett  School,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

The  following  project  was  carried  on  in  the  fourth  grade  of  the 
Everett  School,  Lincoln,  Neb.  With  the  exception  of  one  or  two  im- 
provements this  is  a  true  report  of  the  project. 

6 


Project — To  try  to  find  out  how  to  raise  poultry  in  town  where 
space  is  limited  and  yet  make  it  profitable. 

Our  discussion  in  geography  one  day  last  spring  brought  us  to 
consider  the  different  industries  that  were  being  followed  by  people 
of  our  own  city  and  its  suburbs.  Poultry  raising  was  mentioned.  One 
little  boy  in  the  class  had  just  been  given  *wo  little  chicks  and  he  was 
anxious  to  tell  the  class  about  them.  He  said  that  he  was  going  to 
buy  a  few  more  and  start  a  little  poultry  farm  in  his  own  back  yard. 

The  next  morning  he  brought  his  two  little  chicks  to  school.  The 
other  children  in  the  class  were  very  enthusiastic  about  his  plan  to  buy 
more  chicks  and  raise  them.  The  children  asked  him  such  questions 
as :  "Where  will  you  buy  the  other  chicks  ?"  "What  will  you  have  to 
pay  for  them  ?"  Several  of  the  boys  and  girls  expressed  the  wish  that 
they  could  buy  some,  too. 

I  asked  a  few  of  the  children  why  they  wanted  to  raise  chickens. 
Some  said,  "To  earn  money."  Others  said,  "To  eat,"  and  one  little 
girl  said,  "Because  I  think  they  are  cute  and  would  make  nice  pets." 
Then  I  asked  them  if  it  would  pay  to  raise  chickens  in  town?  From 
the  discussion  that  followed  I  found  that  most  of  them  knew  very  little 
about  poultry  raising.  Finally  one  little  boy  said,  "I  think  we  had 
better  find  out  something  about  poultry  raising  before  we  buy  our 
chicks."  The  rest  of  the  class  thought  that  was  a  good  idea  and  it  was 
decided  to  study  poultry  raising  and  find  out  if  it  would  pay  us  to  keep 
a  few  chicks  in  our  own  back  yards. 

Our  next  step  was  to  organize  some  plan  for  this  study.  I  asked 
the  class  to  suggest  ways  of  finding  out  the  things  we  would  need  to 
know.  The  following  suggestions  were  given :  "Send  for  poultry 
magazines,"  "Visit  the  poultry  farm  at  the  State  Farm,"  "Read  library 
books  on  poultry." 

Two  or  three  of  the  children  who  had  chickens  at  home  decided 
to  keep  a  record  of  the  cost  of  chicken  feed  for  one  month  and  a  rec- 
ord of  the  number  of  eggs  produced  in  one  month.  At  the  end  of  the 
month  they  were  to  make  a  report  for  the  class.  The  members  of  the 
class  divided  into  groups.  One  group  got  library  books  on  poultry 
raising.  Some  of  these  books  were  read  during  the  reading  period, 
others  were  read  by  individuals,  who  gave  a  report  during  the  geog- 
raphy period.  Another  group  collected  pictures  and  illustrative  maga- 
zines showing  equipment  for  poultry  raising.  From  this  collection  they 
selected  what  in  their  judgment  seemed  most  helpful,  and  made  a 
large  poster  for  use  in  the  room. 

I  told  the  class  that  they  could  get  interesting  bulletins  by  sending 
to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington,  D.  C.  This  they 
decided  to  do,  and  during  the  language  period  each  member  of  the 
class  wrote  a  letter  to  Congressman  Reavis,  asking  for  these  bulletins. 
These  letters  were  read  during  a  following  language  period,  criticized 
by  the  members  of  the  class  and  the  one  which  the  class  thought  best 
was  sent. 

In  answer  to  this  letter  we  received  six  very  interesting  and  help- 
ful bulletins,  giving  valuable  information  on  practically  every  phase  of 
poultry  raising.  As  these  bulletins  were  read  in  class  or  reported  upon 
by  individuals,  the  class  as  a  whole  formulated  a  summary  of  the  infor- 
mation which  they  considered  most  valuable  to  them. 


One  little  girl  suggested  making  booklets  in  which  they  could  keep 
this  summary.  The  rest  of  the  class  agreed  to  this,  so  the  booklets 
were  made  and  decorated  during  the  art  periods.  Each  individual 
designed  his  own  book  cover.  The  writing  in  these  booklets  was  done 
during  the  penmanship  lesson.  Everyone  took  a  pride  in  this  booklet 
because  he  realized  that  it  was  something  of  real  worth  to  him. 

This  project  carried  over  into  the  arithmetic  work  also.  When 
the  three  children  brought  in  their  reports  on  the  cost  of  feed  for 
their  chickens  in  one  month  and  the  number  of  eggs  produced  in  one 
month,  then  the  class  worked  out  the  profit  or  loss  as  the  case,  might 
be.  They  also  worked  out  problems  showing  what  they  had  gained  by 
not  having  to  buy  this  supply  of  eggs  at  the  store. 

One  little  girl  had  suggested  that  we  visit  the  poultry  department 
at  the  State  Farm.  One  afternoon  was  taken,  for  this  trip.  Here  the 
children  saw  the  model  types  of  poultry  buildings,  self-feeders  and 
so  on.  After  this  visit  the  children  wanted  to  build  a  poultry  farm  on 
a  table  in  the  room.  Plans  were  made  for  this.  Each  member  of  the 
class  chose  what  part  he  wanted  to  make.  They  decided  to  use  card- 
board for  the  buildings. 

This  building  of  the  farm  also  led  into  the  arithmetic.  They 
learned  how  to  find  the  perimeter  in  finding  how  much  fence  they 
needed  to  make.  They  also  had  many  occasions  to  use  measurements. 

When  our  project  was  nearing  completion,  the  class  summed  up 
orally  what  they  had  learned  about  poultry  raising  and  reached  the 
conclusion  that  it  would  pay  them  to  have  a  back  yard  poultry  farm. 
COMMENT 

The  working  out  of  this  project  developed  in  the  children  the 
qualities  of  responsibility,  judgment,  initiative,  better  power  to  organ- 
ize material.  It  also  developed  the  library  habit  and  gave  them  better 
ideas  of  thrift.  Some  of  the  children  were  planning  to  join  the  poultry 
club,  which  is  managed  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  school  garden 
club. 


Hawaii  in  the  Fourth  Grade 

Louise  N.  Borchers,  State  Normal  School,  Bridgewater,  Mass. 

A  lesson  in  music  appreciation  had  been  given  on  classical  pieces 
such  as  "Humoresque,"  "The  iSlarcissis"  and  the  like.  One  day  two 
Hawaiian  pieces  had  been  chosen  for  discussion  and  study.  They 
then  were  played.  The  children  noted  the  peculiarity  in  rhymth  and 
tones,  also  the  many  repetitions  of  the  same  theme.  The  student 
teacher  in  charge  had  brought  a  ukelele,  that  being  one  of  the  instru- 
ments used  in  both  pieces.  She  played  and  sang  a  familiar  Hawaiian 
tune.  The  children  became  very  much  interested.  They  marveled  at 
the  simplicity  of  the  instrument.  They  wanted  to  know  how  to  play 
it  and  all  about  its  mechanism.  One  boy  said  he  had  one  and  would 
learn  how  to  play  it.  Noticing  a  peculiarity  in  this  instrument  and  a 
peculiarity  in  the  music,  as  compared  with  previous  pieces,  the  children 
began  to  feel  there  must  be  a  difference  in  the  life  of  these  people,  as 
compared  to  other  people  already  studied.  "I  should  like  to  know 
more  about  these  people,"  said  one  boy.  "I  should  like  to  know  if  they 

8 


only  had  this  one  kind  of  instrument  to  play  on  or  whether  they  have 
as  many  different  kinds  as  we  Americans  have  ?"  The  class  needed  no 
further  urging.  The  project  was  launched. 

Both  desk  geographies  came  to  the  tops  of  their  desks.  Each  of 
the  fine  reference  books  on  music  ("Books  on  Music  and  Musicians") 
were  taken  from  the  library  shelf  in  the  corner  of  the  room.  When 
the  question,  "What  are  you  going  to  look  for?"  was  asked  by  the 
teacher,  most  of  the  children  wished  to  continue  on  the  thought  of 
music;  they  wanted  to  find  out  what  the  Hawaiians  did  during  their 
spare  moments,  their  vacations,  and  what  kind  of  amusements  they 
had.  The  teacher  felt  she  needed  to  suggest  other  lines  of  study  as 
well,  if  they  wished  to  know  more  about  the  life  of  other  people.  The 
children  suggested  topics.  These  the  leader  of  the  class  placed  on  the 
board  and  while  the  group  on  music  were  busying  themselves,  the  rest 
of  the  class  formed  itself  into  groups,  each  selecting  a  topic  most  inter- 
esting to  himself,  then  going  to  that  section  of  the  room  where  that 
group  would  meet.  The  leader  appointed  two  assistants  to  help  form 
these  groups,  as  well  as  help  distribute  reference  books  on  topics 
chosen.  Information  was  sought  at  home,  magazines  were  read  and 
maps  consulted.  It  took  many  recitations  to  cover  the  discussion  on 
these  various  topics,  but  at  the  end  of  the  study  the  children  had  a 
valuable  amount  of  information  about  Hawaiian  industries,  climate, 
rainfall,  agriculture,  amusements,  history  and  government. 

With  this  knowledge  as  a  basis  they  were  now  ready  to  take  an 
imaginary  trip  to  Hawaii.  This  trip  was  suggested  by  the  teacher, 
whose  purpose  was  to  make  it  a  review.  To  the  children  it  did  not 
seem  a  review,  as  new  problems  continually  presented  themselves. 
They  had  to  find  out  and  decide  upon  a  suitable  season  in  which  to 
go  to  Hawaii,  the  length  season  in  which  to  go  to  Hawaii,  the  length  of 
time  one  might  care  to  stay  (why  not  a  short  time  or  why  not  a  long 
time),  the  kind  and  amount  of  clothing  needed  for  their  stay,  the 
amount  of  money  needed  for  fare,  board,  room  and  sight-seeing  trips, 
and  the  various  routes  one  might  travel.  Arrangements  to  be  made  for 
accommodations  also  needed  consideration  This  led  to  a  very  detailed 
newspaper  study  of  weekly  sailing  bulletins,  of  time  tables  and  hotel 
catalogues.  In  discussing  time  tables,  careful  study  was  made  of  the 
various  letters,  numerals,  and  symbols.  In  the  midst  of  this  problems 
originated  from  the  children.  They  were  eager  to  calculate  the  dis- 
tance from  New  York  to  Hawaii.  This  led  to  calculating  distances 
between  various  other  places  on  the  time  tables.  Drill  in  estimating 
the  time  it  took  for  trains  to  make  connection  between  two  places  was 
needed.  This  required  a  study  of  the  clock.  Learning  to  tell  time  in 
the  primary  grades  now  proved  to  be  of  value. 

Deciding  upon  the  best  route  and  the  best  time,  we  started  on  our 
journey.  After  checking  our  trunks  and  seating  ourselves  we  noted 
various  buildings,  cities,  towns,  and  rivers  on  the  way.  We  noticed 
the  scene  at  the  wharf  upon  arrival  at  Honolulu,  the  mode  of  traveling, 
the  buildings.  The  life  in  general  was  pictured  more  vividly  this  time. 
The  early  history,  as  well  as  the  present  day  history  was  brought  out 
in  the  stories  read  to  the  class  by  the  group  who  studied  the  topic, 
"History."  We  went  to  private  and  public  gardens,  compared  the  trees, 
flowers  and  birds  found  there  with  ours  in  America.  We  watched 


children  play  games  and  adopted  some  for  our  own  use  at  recess 
periods.  -  The  sand  table  was  used  in  portraying  the  life  of  the  Ha- 
waiians  in  miniature  form.  Children  made  pamphlets  in  which  they 
kept  stories  written  on  ''Hawaiian  Life,"  pictures,  maps,  and  drawings. 
Thus  this  was  a  project  that  involved  music,  geography,  history, 
arithmetic,  spelling,  penmanship,  drawing  and  manual  arts.  Nature 
study  was  also  touched  upon.  Both  oral  and  written  language  were 
involved.  This  project  brought  the  pupils  into  a  more  direct  contact 
with  things,  processes,  activities,  facts,  interests,  modes  of  procedure 
and  ideals  that  are  significant  in  modern  life.  It  led  to  further  study 
of  more  difficult  problems. 


Clean  Teeth 

Ellen  C.  Wilhelm,  Overlea,  Md. 
AIM  OF  THE  TEACHER 

Better  health  habits  in  the  children  to  be  sought  through  the 
organization  of  a  Clean  Teeth  Brigade. 

CHILDREN'S  AIM 

To  find  out  all  we  can  about  how  to  make  our  teeth  last  longer. 

SITUATION 

The  teacher  noticed  many  children  had  bad  breaths  and  unclean 
teeth. 

She  .began  talking  about  care  of  the  teeth  at  one  of  the  morning 
exercises.  She  brought  out  the  great  importance  of  keeping  what  teeth 
you  have,  in  this  way:  "Did  you  ever  knock  off  a  finger  nail?  Ever 
have  a  horse  tramp  on  your  toe  and  cause  nail  to  come  off?  Ever  hit 
the  wrong  "nail"  when  using  a  hammer?  What  about  the  nail  that 
came  off?  Another  grew  on? 

How  about  teeth  ?  If  you  have  one  knocked  out,  or  it  decays,  does 
another  grow  in? 

Children :  "No,  except  with  little  youngsters.  They  have  some 
teeth  that  are  called  milk  teeth,  but  even  their  molars  come  only  once. 
If  you  happen  to  lose  a  tooth  you  have  to  go  through  life  until  you 
die  without  one  there.  You  can  get  false  ones,  but  they  are  very 
unsatisfactory  as  compared  to  natural  ones." 

PURPOSE  DEFINED  BY  CHILDREN 

"Well,  how  can  we  make  our  teeth  last  longer?  What  makes 
decay?  Let  us  find  out." 

GATHERING  INFORMATION 

A  committee  of  five  was  chosen  to  go  to  the  dentist  and  ask  him 
to  tell  them.  The  dentist  was  glad  to  see  them,  as  it  promised  trade 
for  him  through  larger  acquaintance.  The  children  looked  in  maga- 
zines and  papers  for  pictures  and  advertisements  about  teeth,  bringing 
in  all  they  could  find. 
PRACTICE 

They  brought  their  brushes  to  school  and  had  a  brush  drill.  They 
learned  to  brush  down  instead  of  across  and  to  brush  inside  of  teeth 
as  well  as  outside.  All  did  not  have  tooth  brushes,  I  am  sorry  to  .say, 

10 


when  this  campaign  started  but  when  the  day  arrived  that  the  boys  had 
chosen  for  their  drill  every  child  owned  one. 
ASSOCIATED  ACTIVITIES 

The  children  made  up  songs,  as,  for  example  : 
This  is  the  way  we  brush  our  teeth 


So  early  every  morning. 

Tune— Here  We  Go  'Round  the  Mulberry  Bush.) 
and 

Johnnie  get  your  brush 
ti       «         « 

tt       {t         (( 

(Tune — Johnnie  Get  Your  Gun.) 
JUDGMENT,  SELF-DIRECTION,  ASSUMING  RESPONSIBILITY 

They  made  up  a  little  drill  and  play  called  "Passing  of  the  Film." 
They  charged  five  cents  admission  for  this.  They  were  told  they  might 
decide  as  to  the  best  expenditure  of  the  money  earned.  They  held  an 
open  forum  and  finally  decided  to  buy  pleasure  books.  Some  of  the 
children  in  other  classes  outside  the  game  thought  "Passing  of  the 
Film"  had  something  to  do  with  movies  and  curiosity  was  aroused. 

OUTCOMES  FOR  THE  CHILDREN 

1.  They  learned  that  soap  and  water  with  brush  is  an  excellent 
way  to  clean  teeth. 

2.  That  Ivory  soap  is  cheap  and  hard  to  beat. 

3.  That  soap  and  tooth  brush  should  be  kept  as  clean  and  sani- 
tary as  possible, 

4.  That  bicarbonate  of  soda  is  good  for  a  sour  mouth. 

5.  That  acid  in  mouth  eats  away  enamel. 

6.  One  child  of  his  own  accord  brought  litmus  paper  and  showed 
that  acid  turns  it  pink. 

7.  That  many  tooth  pastes  and  powders  do  more  harm  than  good 
and  why. 

8.  That  a  dentist  should  be  asked  to  recommend  a  tooth  powder, 
and  that  this  is  as  important  as  to  ask  your  physician  to  recommend 
a  stomach  powder. 

9.  They  had  a  keen  pleasure  in  this  research  work.    They  became 
interested  and  advised  their  classmates  to  take  care  of  their  teeth. 
They  did  good  neighborhood  work,  I   feel  sure,  in  many  homes  by 
spreading  valuable  information  and  good  vigorous  examples. 

10.  They  gained  skill  in  group  activity  and  in  handling  and  ex- 
pending money. 


The  School  Paper 

Anna  E.  Butler,  Principal  of  Demonstration  School,  Pittston,  N.  J. 

THE  SITUATION 

My  seventh  grade  was  considering  the  good  and  weak  points  in 
their  written  composition  work  when  one  of  the  girls  remarked  that 

11 


she  thought  Alice's  story  was  told  well  enough  to  be  put  in  the  news- 
paper. Immediately  a  boy  remarked,  "Couldn't  we  issue  a  school 
paper?"  The  class  was  keenly  interested  in  this  idea  and  several 
offered  reasons  why  they  thought  it  was  worth  doing.  The  class  was 
soon  one  hundred  per  cent  in  favor  of  adopting  the  project.  Thus  a 
Type  I  project  was  launched. 

PURPOSING  AND  PLANNING 

Purposing  and  planning  went  on  as  the  class  proceeded  to  get 
the  paper  ready  within  two  weeks'  time.  A  title  was  selected  after 
several  suggested  ones  had  been  considered.  An  editorial  staff  was 
appointed.  Committees  were  formed  to  perform  various  special  duties. 
Everyone  was  held  responsible  for  some  part  in  the  work. 
EXECUTION 

Material  was  organized  and  arranged  in  a  paper.     Five  readers, 
who  had  been  selected  by  the  class,  read  the  paper  aloud,  Friday  after- 
noon before  the  group. 
JUDGING  THE  RESULTS 

As  soon  as  the  paper  was  read  the  children  began  to  offer  com- 
ments favorable  and  unfavorable  about  their  paper.  They  wanted  to 
issue  another,  but  asked  if  one  month  might  be  allowed  to  get  it 
ready  in.  They  issued  four  papers  before  the  school  year  ended  and 
they  gave  evidence  that  they  enjoyed  the  time  taken  up  with  the  read- 
ing of  the  ''Signal,"  as  they  called  it. 
EDUCATIONAL  COMMENT 

The  project  made  composition  work  much  more  worth-while  to 
the  children.  All  school  subjects  were  introduced  in  the  project. 
Spelling  was  especially  improved  from  such  activity.  Children  were 
whole-heartedly  interested  in  the  project,  for  the  specific  purpose  had 
come  from  the  class.  All  the  way  through  the  children  were  purposing 
planning,  executing,  and  judging.  It  was  a  co-operative  unit  worked 
out  in  whole  hearted  purposeful  activity  in  a  social  situation.  I  ob- 
served that  the  children  were  much  more  interested  in  reading  period- 
icals, magazines  and  the  daily  papers.  Three  members  submitted 
material  during  the  year  to  the  daily  newspaper  of  a  nearby  city  for 
publication.  Thus  I  am  convinced  that  the  project  led  on  to  other 
fruitful  activity. 


An  Unselfish  Christmas 

Myrma  McGeehon,  Youngstoivn,  Ohio 

The  Christmas  spirit  was  in  the  air.  All  the  children  in  second 
grade  were  chatting  about  what  they  were  to  get  and  give.  One  day 
in  conversation  period,  Billy  told  us  that  he  had  been  talking  to  a  little 
boy  who  never  had  any  Christmas  presents,  but  possibly  an  orange  or 
a  stick  of  candy.  This  led  to  a  discussion  of  the  many,  many  poor 
children  around  us  and  our  little  group  were  anxious  to  share  their 
joys  with  those  less  fortunate.  So,  it  was  decided  to  have  a  Christmas 
party  for  the  children  of  a  settlement  house. 

In  the  first  place  the  invitations  were  sent,  written  by  the  chil- 
dren. Then  preparations  were  begun  for  the  festivities.  Of  course, 

12 


we  must  have  little  gifts  for  our  guests,  so  we  determined  on  stocking 
dolls,  which  we  would  make  and  dress  for  the  girls,  and  scrap  books 
which  could  be  made  for  the  boys.  Then,  we  wanted  to  make  candy 
and  pop-corn  for  all  the  children.  We  knew  it  would  not  be  a  real 
Christmas  party  without  a  tree,  and  we  were  puzzled  for  a  while  about 
where  we  might  get  one.  Finally  we  remembered  that  there  was 
always  a  tree  in  kindergarten,  so  we  wrote  and  explained  our  plans  to 
the  kindergartner  and  asked  if  we  might  include  their  tree  in  our  party, 
inasmuch  as  it  was  not  to  be  at  the  same  time  as  theirs.  After  receiv- 
ing a  reply  to  this  request,  we  set  about  to  make  trimmings  of  colored 
papers  for  the  tree.  We  selected  games  which  we  thought  our  little 
friends  would  enjoy  playing  while  they  were  with  us.  Finally  the  long 
and  eagerly  awaited  day  arrived  and  the  finishing  touches  were  placed 
in  the  morning  for  the  afternoon's  merry-making.  The  tree  was 
trimmed  and  the  gifts  wrapped  and  placed  around  it.  The  candy  and 
pop  corn  were  made  and  carefully  deposited  in  little  individual  pack- 
ages. Then  the  children  suggested  that  we  did  not  know  just  exactly 
how  to  receive  our  expected  guests  so  we  sat  down  to  talk  about 
manners. 

In  this  project  there  were  unlimited  developments  of  educational 
value.  The  formation  of  the  project  with  its  unselfish  motive  was  of 
vital  importance,  for  they  came  to  know  the  meaning  of  real  happiness 
through  giving  happiness.  Composing  and  writing  the  invitations  and 
the  request  for  the  tree  brought  in  language  and  spelling  training. 
Making  the  dolls  and  dressing  them  involved  hand-work,  skill  and  a 
use  of  judgment.  Selecting  the  material  for  the  scrap  books  called 
for  discriminating  reading  and  a  wise  choice  of  pictures,  also  some 
number  training  in  the  measuring  and  the  spacing  of  the  pictures. 
Hand-work  and  ingenuity  found  place  in  the  designing  and  creating 
of  the  ornaments  for  the  tree.  Into  the  candy  and  pop  corn  making 
came  an  invitation  into  business  and  some  arithmetic,  for  we  bought 
the  materials  and  computed  the  cost.  The  interest  manifested  by  the 
children  in  the  making  of  these,  denoted  a  sure  indication  of  "carry- 
ing on"  into  future  activity.  The  trimming  of  the  tree  and  wrap- 
ping and  arranging  the  gifts  called  forth  artistic  ability.  To  conclude 
the  real  happiness  and  joy  which  the  culmination  of  the  project 
brought  to  the  children  was  a  vital  factor. 


A  Review  Lesson  on  the  Vikings 

Sixth  Grade,  Woodlaivn  School*  Baltimore  County,  Md. 
In  their  study  of  the  Barbarian  Conquerors  in  Europe,  the  Sixth 
Grade  were  interested  to  find  that  one  of  these  groups  of  invaders  was 
the  Vikings,  a  people  they  had  studied  while  in  Fourth  Grade.     The 
facts  they  had  learned  in  this  earlier  grade  served  to  stimulate  an 
interest  in  the  additional  information  they  found  in  their  history  text, 
'Our  Ancestors  in  Europe,"  and  in  books  in  the  school  library.     The 
class  thought  that,  since  the  present  Fourth  Grade  in  the  school  had 
studied  about  the  Vikings  early  in  the  year  they  might  enjoy  hearing 
the  Sixth  Grade  review  the  topic.    They  therefore  decided  to  conduct 
an  oral  review  and  to  invite  the  Fourth  Grade  to  hear  the  lesson. 
*  A  three-room  school. 


13 


In  preparation  for  this  lesson,  their  main  problem  was  to  select 
such  material  as  would  prove  most  interesting  to  the  Fourth  Grade. 
Accordingly,  they  first  made  an  outline  of  topics  which  would  best  tell 
a  unified  story  of  the  Vikings — a  story  which  the  Fourth  Grade  could 
understand.  A  list  of  topics  he  thought  suitable,  was  prepared  by 
each  member  of  the  Sixth  Grade,  and  a  history  period  was  devoted 
to  discussing  these  lists,  and  deciding  upon  the  final  outline  to  be 
used.  This  final  outline  follows : 

1.  Location  of  the  countries  where  the  Vikings  lived.     (Several 

maps  were  used  to  show  these  countries.) 

2.  A  description  of  the  Viking  Countries.     (Climate  and  surface 

features.) 

3.  How  the  Vikings  lived. 

4.  How  the  Vikings  dressed. 

5.  The  appearance  of  the  Vikings. 

6.  How  the  Vikings  traveled. 

7.  Going  A-Viking. 

8.  Explorations. 

9.  Raids  and  warfare. 
10.  Viking  Heroes. 

Each  child  selected  from  the  list  a  topic  upon  which  to  prepare 
a  short  report.  Thus  each  member  of  the  class  felt  responsible  for 
telling  a  part  of  the  story.  Several  history  periods  were  spent  in  giv- 
ing each  child  an  opportunity  to  make  an  oral  report,  the  other  pupils 
offering  suggestions.  The  willingness  of  each  one  to  help  his  class- 
mates and  to  act  upon  the  suggestions  offered  showed  a  spirit  of  real 
co-operation. 

Invitations  to  hear  the  history  lesson  were  sent  to  the  Fourth 
Grade  and  to  the  supervisors.  These  letters  were  written  during 
composition  periods.  A  poster  announcing  the  lesson  was  placed  in 
the  hall  and  another  sent  to  the  Fourth  Grade.  The  Sixth  Grade  also 
drew  and  cut  out  pictures  of  Viking  ships  which  they  used  to  illustrate 
some  phases  of  the  lesson. 

In  preparing  the  reports,  physical  maps  were  studied  in  order  that 
the  class  might  become  familiar  with  the  surface  features  of  the  Viking 
countries.  Each  child  used  an  outline  map  upon  which  he  indicated 
the  surface  features.  A  study  was  also  made  of  these  countries,  par- 
ticularly as  to  climate  and  location,  including  latitude  and  longitude. 
During  the  lesson,  especially  good  use  was  made  of  the  physical  wall 
map  in  indicating  the  home  of  the  Vikings,  the  routes  traveled  in 
seeking  new  homes,  and  the  islands  and  the  part  of  North  America 
touched  in  their  voyage. 

When  the  lesson  was  given,  a  girl  acted  as  teacher,  standing  beside 
ifte  blackboard  upon  which  the  topics  were  written,  and  calling  upon 
pupils  to  give  reports.  The  confident  way  in  which  the  reports  were 
given  proved  the  ability  of  children  to  assume  responsibility  when  the 
opportunity  is  given.  The  reports  had  not  been  memorized  but  were 
given  in  a  conversational  way.  After  the  lesson  the  reports  were 
written.  Several  of  these  reports  follow. 

14 


WHERE  THE  VIKINGS  LIVED 

The  early  home  of  the  Vikings  was  a  land  in  the  far  north,  on 
the  shores  of  Norway,  Sweden  and  Denmark.  It  was  a  land  of 
peninsulas  and  islands.  The  country  was  very  mountainous  in  parts, 
and  spurs  of  these  mountains  ran  far  out  into  the  sea.  Great  cliffs, 
some  of  them  hundreds  of  feet  high,  rose  out  of  the  ocean.  These 
cliffs  were  ragged  and  rough  as  if  torn  apart  by  giants'  fingers.  The 
Vikings  believed  that  Thor,  the  God  of  War,  had  broken  the  rocks  by 
hurling  his  hammer  at  the  mountains.  In  many  places  the  sea  came 
up  into  the  land,  and  made  a  fiord.  At  the  head  of  each  fiord,  there 
was  usually  a  valley  where  the  soil  was  fertile  and  a  little  grass  would 
grow.  But  on  the  cliffs  and  mountains  only  trees  could  live,  as  far 
as  you  could  see  the  deep  forest  stretched,  mile  after  mile,  along  the 
mountains. 

HELEN  CLARKE. 

How  THE  VIKINGS  DRESSED 

The  Vikings  made  their  clothing  from  the  skins  of  wild  animals 
which  lived  in  the  forests.  They  wanted  ornaments  to  wear,  but  as 
their  rocks  gave  them  little  gold  or  silver,  they  sailed  to  other  lands, 
and  brought  back  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  and  other  things  which 
they  wanted. 

The  Viking  men  were  great  warriors.  Each  warrior  wore  a 
shining  coat  of  mail,  over  which  was  thrown  a  richly  colored  mantle 
fastened  at  the  shoulder  with  a  pin  of  gold  or  silver  set  with  stones. 
Strapped  at  his  side  was  his  broad,  short  sword,  while  in  his  hand 
was  a  long  lance.  His  helmet,  ornamented  with  a  dragon  head,  glist- 
ened in  the  sunlight  as  it  rested  on  the  warrior's  mane  of  hair.  His 
round  shield  was  wonderfully  ornamented. 

FRANCES  CHANEY. 
THE  VIKING  SHIPS 

The  true  home  of  the  Vikings  was  the  sea.  The  same  forests 
that  gave  the  logs  for  their  houses  on  land,  gave  also  the  timbers  of 
their  sturdy  ships.  The  front  of  the  ship  was  high,  and  had  a 
fierce-looking  head  upon  it,  often  a  dragon's  head.  The  stern  of  the 
ship,  too,  was  high  and  was  built  in  the  shape  of  a  dragon's  tail.  The 
head  and  tail  were  covered  with  gold,  and  the  gold  shone  in  the  sun- 
light like  fire.  Their  square  sails  were  painted  with  gay  colors  and 
round  the  sides  were  hung  the  colored  shields  of  their  crew  of 
warriors. 

KARL  REICHERT. 

GOING  A-VIKING 

The  Vikings  liked  to  sail  far  out  upon  the  sea.  They  loved  the 
£reat  ocean ;  for  it  was  like  themselves,  big  and  strong  and  boisterous. 
Other  European  people  had  never  dared  to  sail  out  very  far  from 
their  own  shores.  They  believed  the  earth  was  a  flat  disk;  and  so 
they  were  afraid  that  they  might  sail  out  over  the  edge. 

But  the  hardy  Norsemen  were  afraid  of  nothing.  The  sea  was  to 
them  a  joy,  a  plaything  and  a  friend. 

When  a  Viking  said,  "Let  us  go  A-Viking"  they  meant  sailing 

15 


on  the  sea  in  search  of  new  lands ;  robbing  and  plundering  the  lands 
which  they  found,  and  rinding  joy  in  their  wild  out-of-door-life. 

MARGARET  LEHMANN. 

EXPLORATION 

The  Vikings  wanted  many  things  which  their  barren  lands  could 
not  give  them,  and  they  were  always  ready  to  make  new  ventures  in 
the  hope  of  finding  what  they  needed.  The  sea  was  an  open  path 
to  them. 

The  most  distant  shores  were  visited  by  these  daring  sailors. 
They  made  new  homes  for  themselves  in  Iceland,  and  on  the  cold 
shores  of  Greenland.  Farther  still  they  sailed,  and  found  a  coast  slop- 
ing to  the  south.  This  they  followed  for  many  miles,  till  they  came  to 
an  island  at  the  mouth  of  a  river.  Here  they  landed  and  found  a  rich 
country  where  grapes  grew  in  plenty;  the  woods  were  full  of  game, 
and  the  rivers  of  salmon.  The  Vikings  named  this  new  land  "Vine- 
land."  It  was  five  hundred  years  before  any  ships  from  Europe  came 
to  that  shore  again;  for  the  Vineland  was  our  "America"  which 
Columbus  again  discovered  long  afterwards. 

The  Northmen  also  poured  into  England  and  won  a  foothold 
there.  Into  Germany  and  France  and  Italy  they  came. 

THELMA  LINE. 

VIKING  HEROES 

One  of  the  bravest  and  strongest  of  the  Norsemen  in  Iceland 
was  Eric  the  Red.  One  day  he  said  to  his  comrades,  "Let  us  sail 
away  to  find  strange  lands."  So  they  sailed  away.  After  sailing  for  a 
long  while  they  came  to  the  shores  of  a  new  land  all  covered  with 
ice  and  snow.  Going  a  little  farther  they  saw  many  green  things. 
"We  will  call  this  Greenland,"  they  said.  And  so  they  did. 

During  the  study  of  the  Vikings  the  children  became  much  inter- 
ested in  Viking  songs.    They  even  attempted  some  original  songs  and 
some  of  these  were  read  during  the  lesson  by  the  children  who  wrote 
them.    A  few  of  these  are  included  in  their  original  form. 
A  VIKING  SONG 

I'm  a  daring  Viking  bold ; 
Many,  many  tales  I've  told, 

Of  long  sea  trips 

And  Ocean  dips. 

I  just  love  to  search  for  treasure, 
Searching  is  my  greatest  pleasure. 

At  the  dragon's  head  I  stand 
Always  looking  out  for  land 
And  all  the  many  towns  I  plunder 
Came  to  me  as  quick  as  thunder. 

Home  I  went 

Old  and  bent 
Never  more  to  plunder. 

HELEN  CLARKE. 

16 


Face  to  face  to  sea  am  I 

Going  with  pleasure 

With  an  empty  ship. 

Going  so  gay  with  dangers  threatened 

Just  to  get  a  boat  of  treasure- 

And  come  back  laughing  P 

EDWARD  WEBER. 


I  am  a  Viking  strong! 

To  the  sea;     To  the  sea! 

I  have  often  gone. 

In  many  battles  I  have  fought 

In  other  lands  across  the  sea, 

My  dragon-ship  has  taken  me. 


AGNES  WILSON. 


I  am  a  Viking  from  the  North 
Where  the  fiery  north-lights  glow, 
Where  the  north  wind  hard  doth  blow ; 
Many  treasures   I    have   stold 
Many  stories  of  me  they've  told! 

FRANCES  CHANEY. 

"Out  of  this  icy  North 

0  Dragon-ship,   sail   forth ; 
Flee,  flee  this  world  of   snow 
Where  the  fiery  north-lights  glow, 

Haste,  thee,  brave  keel,  away ; 

1  seek  a   fairer  day." 

"I  am  the  God  Thor! 
I  am  the  god  of  war ! 
Here  in  my  fortress, 
Reign  I   forever ! 
My  eyes  are  the  lightning! 
The  blows  of  my  hammer 
Ring  in  the  thunder!" 

MAURICE  DITMAN. 


explorers 

warrior 

daring 

voyager 

expeditions 

skalds 

sagas 

ornaments 

descendents 


LIST  OF  SPELLING  WORDS  NEEDED 

ventured 

Denmark 

islands 

fiords 

plundered 

Scandinavian 

heroes 

shields 

mountainous 

helmets 

Norway 

peninsula 

Sweden 

armor 

raids 

giant? 

dragon 

17 

REFERENCES  USED  BY  CLASS 


BOOK 
Our  Ancestors  in  Europe 

(Text   for  Grade) 
Barbarian  and  Noble 

Viking  Tales 

Builders  of  Our  Country 

History  Stories  of  Other 

Lands 

Book  III,  The  Beginning 
Book  IV,  Lord  and  Vassal 
America's  Story  for  Ameri- 
ca's Children 
Trading  and  Exploring 


AUTHOR  PUBLISHER 

Jennie  Hall   Silver  Burdett 

&  Co. 
Lansing          Ginn  &  Co. 

Jennie  Hall   Rand,  McNally 
Southworth    Appleton  &  Co. 


PAGES 
157-160 

115-122 

137-150 

15-199 

1-9 


Terry 
Terry 


Pratt 
Luther 


Row,  Peterson  Co.  177-181 
Row,  Peterson  Co.    14-22 


D.  C.  Heath 
American  Book  Co. 


1-22 
£-147 


DRAMATIZATION  OF  A  SCENE  FROM  ALICE  IN  WONDERLAND 
FOURTH  GRADE 

When  the  invitation  to  attend  the  review  lesson  on  the  Vikings 
was  received  by  the  Fourth  Grade,  they  thought  they  should  like  to 
do  something  for  the  Sixth  Grade  to  show  their  appreciation  of  the 
invitation.  Since  they  were  studying  "Alice  in  Wonderland/'  they 
decided  that  they  might  dramatize  an  incident  from  this  story.  They 
thought  the  Sixth  Grade  might  enjoy  the  Mad  Tea  Party,  in  Chapter 
VII,  of  "Alice  in  Wonderland."  During  the  reading  period,  the  parts 
of  the  play  were  read  by  different  members  of  the  class.  The  class 
decided  on  four  children  whom  they  thought  could  best  take  the 
parts.  The  dramatization  was  given  immediately  after  the  close  of 
the  Sixth  Grade  lesson  and  was  managed  entirely  by  members  of  the 
Fourth  Grade. 


A  School  Bank 

Avice  Wright,  State  Normal  School,  Emporia,  Kan. 

The  following  class  problem  arose  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  school 
bank.  The  pupils  wanted  to  know  more  about  banking  than  their 
school  banking  work  gave  them.  The  best  way  to  learn  more  about 
banking  seemed  to  be  to  do  what  bankers  do.  But  the  bank  can't 
run  without  the  community.  So  the  problem  arose,  how  to  establish 
a  play  bank  and  a  play  community. 

The  play  bank  was  an  important  part  of  the  arithmetic  work  in 
the  7-6  Grade  the  first  semester  of  this  year. 

To  establish  a  play  bank  and  a  play  community. 

I.  To  find  out  as  much  as  possible  about  banks  in  general.  Each 
pupil  contributed  here  through  advertisements,  etc. 

II.  Such  questions  as  follows  developed  into  small  problems  from 
a  group  recitation  to  discuss  I. 

1.  How  much  money  is  necessary   for  a  group  to  have  in 

order  to  establish  a  bank? 


18 


2.  What    is    meant    by    capital?      Resources?      Liabilities? 
Directors?     Stockholders?  etc. 

3.  Are   all   banks   of   the   same   kind?      (This   brought   out 
State,  National  and  Federal  Reserve.) 

The  above  questions  necessitated  a  library  hour  in  which  the 
banking  laws  of  Kansas  were  considered. 

After  the  library  hour,  the  officers,  president,  vice-president, 
receiving  teller  and  paying  teller  were  elected.  The  president  presided 
and  conducted  a  parliamentary  meeting  considering  the  following 
questions.  For  example: 

1.  What  kind  of  a  bank  shall  we  have? 

2.  What  shall  be  our  capital? 

3.  How  many  stockholders?    How  shall  our  directors  be  chosen? 

4.  What  sort  of  bookkeeping  is  necessary?     (This  involves  a  dis- 
tinct knowledge  of  debit  and  credit.) 

5.  How  shall   our  bank  books  be  balanced? 

6.  What  is  the  correct  way  to  write  a  check?    A  deposit  slip? 

7.  How  do  we  keep  the  stub  of  the  check  book  balanced? 

8.  What  kind  of  business  shall  I  have?     (This  involves  also  study 
of  partnerships.) 

9.  What  can  I  use  to  represent  things  to  sell? 

10.  Where  will  we  get  our  stock?     (Herein  enters  the  wholesale 
house  and  its  study.) 

11.  How  can  I  make  my  goods  so  attractive  that  every  one  will 
buy?     (Out  of  this  grows  the  poster  problems — attractive  posters  are 
made  by  the  class  to  use  as  show  windows.) 

12.  How  shall  I  mark  my  goods?     (This  calls  for  a  marking  word 
similar  to  one  which  merchants  use.) 

After  the  play  community  has  been  in  progress  for  some  time  and 
profits  are  realized  the  problem  of  investment  arises  and  various  types 
of  investments  as  savings  accounts,  real  estate,  endowment,  stocks  and 
bonds  follow.  In  connection  with  real  estate  the  problem  of  tax  is 
met. 

AVICE  WRIGHT, 
Supervisor  of  Mathematics. 


A  Circus 

PROJECT 

A  circus  in  the  schoolroom  produced  by  the  children  of  the  Second 
Grade. 

SITUATION 

A  circus  had  recently  been  to  the  town ;  all  the  children  attended. 
APPROACH  OR  LAUNCHING  THE  PROJECT 

"Let  me  see  the  hands  of  all  the  children  who  went  to  the  circus. 
Good,  I  am  glad  so  many  of  you  went !  Mary,  tell  me  something  that 
you  saw  at  the  circus  that  you  liked  very  much."  Then  will  follow  a 
general  discussion  of  the  things  seen  at  the  circus.  x 

"How  would  you  like  to  have  a  circus  here  in  our  room?" 

"All  right,  what  parts  of  the  circus  could  we  produce?"   As  each 

19 


suggestion  came  up  we  would  discuss  it  and  if  practical  would  write 
it  on  the  board.     We  probably  would  decide  on : 

1.  Elephant  walking  the  bottles  and  other  "stunts"  by  the  different 
animals. 

2.  The  clown. 

3.  The  band. 

4.  The  ring-master. 

5.  Make  posters. 

Children  decide  who  is  to  take  each  part. 

CORRELATION 

1 .  Language : 

(a)  Each   animal   described   named,   where   lives   and   other 
things  of  interest  we  can  find  out.     . 

(b)  Word  drill  on  names  of  animals. 

(c)  Name  and  describe  with  imitations — instruments  in  the 
band. 

(d)  Writing  the  posters. 

2.  Hand  work : 

(a)  Making  posters. 

(b)  Making  simple  costume  accessories   such  as  paper  hat 
and  neck  ruff  for  clown.     All  costuming  would  be  very  simple 
— a    mere    suggestion,    the    children's    imagination    and    imitation 
would  suffice. 

3.  Physical  exercise : 

(a)    Imitating    the    animals    by    different    motions    that    are 
characteristic. 

4.  Geography — locating    and    talking    about    places    where    the 
animals  live. 

5.  Arithmetic : 

(a)  Simple  measures  required  in  hand  work. 

(b)  Selling  tickets. 

We  would  use  the  entire  room  as  a  stage  or  circus  ring  with  the 
simplest  equipment.  The  entire  procedure  would  be  as  informal  and  as 
much  in  the  hands  of  the  children  as  possible  to  maintain  at  the  same 
time  some  semblance  of  decency  and  order  and  aiming  at  worth  while 
activity. 


An  Unusual  Project 

THE  SITUATION 

1.  A  class  of  36  boys  and  girls  in  the  Seventh  Grade,  and  between 
the  ages  of  16  and  17.     One  boy  was  18,  and  had  been  through  the 
first  two  years  of  high  school  in  the  State  of  Washington,  but  was 
retarded  because  he  hadn't   memorized  the  particular   lists   of   facts, 
most  of  them  useless,  which  were  required  for  entrance  to  high  school 
in  that  system.     The  others  were  retarded  for  similar  reasons,  and, 
of  course,  hated  the  "baby"  work  which  they  were  sometimes  required 
to   do,   such   as   making   small   wooden   toys   in   the   manual   training 
course. 

2.  The   manual   training   building   was   in   a   corner   of   a    large 
grounds. 

20 


3.  There  was  a  kind  of  summer  resort  nearby  where  this  par- 
ticular product  could  be  used,  and  a  friend  of  the  school  was  ready 
to  buy  this  product  just  as  soon  as  it  was  completed,  or  partly  com- 
pleted at  the  cost  price,  or  a  little  more  than  cost. 

4.  Construction  work  "was  decreasing  because  the  war  had  broken 
out,  and  lumber  was  plentiful  and  could  be  had  for  this  purpose  on 
credit. 

THE  MAIN  PROBLEM 

1.  To  construct  a  summer  cottage  that  could  be  moved   to  the 
beach  nearby,  if  not  built  on  the  beach. 

THE  AIMS  (as  I  now  see  them). 

1.  To  create  whole-hearted  purposeful  activity,   (a)  in  geometri- 
cal drawing,  which  I  had  to  teach,  and  in  manual  trainng  for  the 
boys,  and  (b)  in  design  for  the  girls,  which  I  also  had  to  teach. 

2.  To  give  the  boys  in  the  same  way  practical  training  in  house- 
planning,  furnishing,  decoration,  and  practice  in  woodwork  that  the 
average  man  may  put  to  use  in  doing  odd  bits  of  repairs,  etc. 

3.  In  the  same   way  to  teach   the  girls   design,   color  harmony, 
planning  for  health,  economy,  convenience  and  house  decorating  and 
furnishing.     Also  to  teach  the  following: 

4.  Principles  of  arithmetic  such  as  lumbering,   carpeting,  paint- 
ing, papering,  percentages,  square  and  cubic  measure. 

5.  Business   forms,   including   letter   writing  and   bookkeeping. 

6.  Some  study  of  textiles,  etc.,  in  regard  to  the  relation  between 
durability,  supply,  cost  of  manufacture  and  price. 

7.  Habits  of  clear  thinking,  correct  speech,  and.  other  habits  in 
regard   to   English    could    be    developed    in    class    discussions,    letter 
writing,  etc. 

8.  If  circumstances  would  permit  the  historical  and  comparative 
study  of  design  and  architecture  could  be  touched  upon. 

9.  Also  geography  in  the  location  of  sources  of  raw  materials, 
places  of  manufacture,  transportation  and  geographical   controls  in- 
volved in  each. 

METHOD 

In  general  the  method  is  suggested  by  the  above  outline,  but  the 
following  should  perhaps  be  added  : 

1.  In  regard  to  plans  the  general  type  would  be  decided  by  the 
pupils,  in  this  case  in  harmony  with  the  wishes  of  the  purchaser,  but 
the    difficult   details    would   be    prepared    by   others    representing   the 
architect.      In   this   case   the   manual    instructor   could   have   had    the 
assistance  of  another  teacher  and  myself   who  had   some  experience 
in  building. 

2.  The  various  minor  projects  and  problems   would  be  worked 
out  by  committees  to  save  time,  but  would  be  later  discussed  in  class. 
Much  of  the  work,  however,   such  as  arithmetic,  bookkeeping,   etc.. 
would  be  done  by  all  pupils.     In  such  things  as  letter-writing  the  best 
would  be  selected,  or  a  combination  made  of  the  good  points  from  all. 

3.  Throughout  stress  would  be  placed  on  division  of  labor,  co- 

21 


operation,  interdependence,  majority  rule,  committee  methods,  parlia- 
mentary procedure,  etc.,  thus  emphasizing  certain  qualities  of  good 
citizenship. 

MISCELLANEOUS  REMARKS 

1.  The  project  here  would  perhaps  not  be  of  the  pupils'  proposing, 
but  I  think  it  would  soon  become  their  real  purpose,  and  the  activity 
would  be  quite  as  whole  hearted. 

2.  This  would  be  a  real  project  because  difficult  problems  would 
be  met  and  overcome  in  order  to  accomplish  the  main  purpose. 

3.  This  kind  of  project,  of  course,  could  only  be  taken  up  in  this 
form  under  special  conditions  such  as  outlined  above. 

4.  The  co-operation  of  at  least  the  class  teacher,  the  manual  train- 
ing instructor  and  the  art  supervisor  would  be  very  necessary,  and,  of 
course,  of  the  authorities  such  as  the  superintendent. 

Plan  for  a  Project  in  How  to  Study  Spelling: 

THE  SITUATION 

The  children  of  the  Fourth  Grade  in  question  are  an  average 
group  of  boys  and  girls  who  have  been  given  a  definite  period  for 
preparing  an  assignment  of  five  new  words  a  day  and  a  review  at 
the  week-end.  They  have  been  left  to  their  own  resources  as  to  method 
of  preparation,  and  the  record  kept  of  the  results  shown  in  the  written 
lessons  is  discouraging  except  for  two  or  three  instances  of  children 
who  do  perfect  work  quite  regularly. 
THE  TEACHER'S  PROBLEM 

The  teacher  is  very  anxious  that  the  children  shall  find  a  more 
effective  way  of  studying  their  spelling. 

METHOD  OF  PROCEDURE 

The  teacher  may  present  the  results  of  a  few  weeks'  work  by 
the  children  by  scores  and  also  by  placing  on  the  blackboard  some 
list  of  words  which  the  children  generally  spell  correctly,  and  also 
lists  of  words  very  often  incorrectly  spelled. 

This  should  serve  to  launch  the  problem  when  the  teacher  sug- 
gests, "I  wonder  if  we  cannot  find  out  what  is  the  matter  and  make 
considerable  improvement.  Surely  the  trouble  is  not  that  we  do  not 
try." 

The  children's  response  will  bring  out  their  feeling  that  the  poorly 
spelled  list  is  composed  of  more  difficult  words.  This  gives  the  oppor- 
tunity to  study  them  and  learn  why  these  words  are  more  difficult. 
Such  facts  as  the  unphonetic  spelling  of  whole  words  or  of  parts  will 
come  out. 

Since  difficulty  should  be  a  challenge  rather  than  a  discourage- 
ment, the  immediate  problem  is  to  discover  the  best  way  ot  studying 
such  words.  It  may  be  suggested  that  John  and  Mary  succeed  in 
spite  of  the  difficulties.  Why  is  this?  Possibly  the  children  will  ask 
these  two  for  help.  John  or  Mary  may  be  able  to  tell  from  intro- 
spection how  they  tackle  the  difficult  words.  If  not  the  teacher  will 
have  to  take  a  more  leading  part  and  perhaps  question  whether  we 
all  study  our  spelling  by  just  mentally  repeating  the  letters  of  a  word 
until  they  sink  into  our  minds  and  stay.  Applying  this  question  to  a 

22 


single  well  chosen  word  should  bring  out  the  suggestion,  probably 
from  John  or  Mary,  that  we  need  pay  little  attention  to  the  parts  of 
words  which  are  spelled  phoneticaly  out  should  pay  special  attention 
to  the  unusual  parts  and  note  their  peculiarities.  Finally  the  group 
might  be  led  to  try  the  scheme  individually  on  other  difficult  words 
from  the  list,  and  then  to  suggest  a  means  for  testing  the  success  of 
the  new  method.  This  would  lead  to  the  practice  of  the  discovered 
plan  and  its  application  to  future  lessons,  with  the  teacher  continuing 
the  record  keeping  for  comparison  of  new  results  with  old  at  some 
future  date. 

This  project  should  be  only  one  step  in  the  big  problem  of  im- 
proving results.  Other  possible  helps  may  be  made  the  bases  of 
similar  problems. 

Rip  Van  Winkle 

Project,  to  present  a  dramatic  version  of  a  portion  of  Irving's 
Rip  Van  Winkle  to  an  audience  of  children  and  teachers  in  the  Sum- 
mer School  of  Teachers  College,  Columbia  University  in  August,  1917* 

SITUATION 

The  class  had  completed  six  lessons  in  "Readings  from  Litera- 
ture," by  Halleck  and  Barbour.  The  opening  question  of  the  course 
was,  "What  have  you  read  for  fun  which  you  could  recommend  to 
the  rest  of  us  ?"  Zenobia's  Infidelity  was  read  for  fun  and  the  fun  was 
made  to  include  ultimately  discussion  of  the  principal  interests,  the 
character  of  the  Doctor,  and  so  on.  There  followed  a  similar  study 
applying  the  same  points  of  view  to  "Wee  Willie  Winkie,"  by 
Kipling. 

DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PURPOSE 

Then  the  instructor  announced  that  the  class  had  been  invited 
to  compete  with  other  classes  for  the  privilege  of  giving  a  play  in  the 
auditorium.  Should  we  undertake  to  do  it  ?  The  class  were  enthusias- 
tic. Then  followed. the  question,  "What  shall  we  dramatize?"  The 
children  themselves  ultimately  decided  to  take  Rip  Van  Winkle,  and 
because  of  the  shortness  of  the  time,  to  give  only  the  last  two  scenes. 

PLAN 

Committees  were  appointed,  largely  on  the  suggestion  of  the 
members  of  the  class,  the  cast  was  determined  by  tryout,  the  "book" 
prepared  by  committees  and  submitted  for  criticism.  Properties  were 
collected  by  committees.  One  or  two  rehearsals  were  held  outside  of 
class  time.  An  art  student  made  a  sign  for  the  inn. 

EXECUTION 

On  the  appointed  day  the  pupils  arranged  the  stage  to  represent 
a  street  by  means  of  screens  and  a  large  play  house  from  the  kinder- 
garten department.  They  dressed  up  to  represent  Revolutionary  cos- 
tumes, and  went  through  with  the  two  acts,  with  prompting  only  from 
the  stage  manager,  who  also  took  part  in  the  action. 
JUDGING  THE  RESULTS 

After  the  play  was  over,  the  members  of  the  class  talked  freely 

23 


among  themselves  as  to  how  well  they  had  succeeded.  They  regretted 
that  they  had  left  out  some  of  the  best  parts,  but  were  glad  that  other 
parts  went  pretty  well.  They  were  particularly  proud  of  Rip  Van 
Winkle,  who  was  heartily  congratulated  on  his  success — kissed,  in  fact, 
by  one  enthusiast. 


A  Project  in  Geography 

Fourth  or  Fifth  Grade,  Anne  Bingham 
AIM 

To  teach  sources  of  food  and  various  industries  of  'the  world. 
SITUATION 

During  summer  school  such  vegetables  were  planted  in  the  school 
garden  as  could  be  harvested  at  the  beginning  of  the  fall  term — turnips, 
parsnips,  carrots,  etc. 

LAUNCHING  OF  PROJECT  (Beginning  from  where  children  are) 

First  an  excursion  is  made  to  the  garden  for  inspection  to  see 

what  changes  have  taken  place  since  summer  school.     (Here  bring  out 

simple   principles   of   sciences  and   nature,   viz.   effect   of   heat,   light, 

moisture,  time,  soil,  etc.)    The  vegetables  are  found  to  be  large  enough 

to  be  harvested. 

Question:     What   shall   we   do   with   the   vegetables?      Probable 

proposals:      (1)    Have  party;    (2)    Take   some  home;    (3)    Take   to 

market  at  the  grocery  store  and  sell. 

QUESTION  OR  PROBLEM 

How  to  harvest  vegetables  or  the  best  way  to  harvest  them;  how 
prepare  them  for  market?  Others?  At  which  store  to  market  them? 
Which  grocer  is  paying  the  best  prices?  (Comparison  of  prices  will 
develop  problems  in  arithmetic. 

Trip  to  grocery  decided  upon.  Let  children  experience  the  selling 
of  the  vegetables  by  transacting  the  business.  While  at  store,  notice 
other  vegetables,  such  as  potatoes,  onions,  etc.,  that  the  farmers  from 
the  country  round  about  have  brought  in  to  market.  Notice  other 
things  in  the  store.  Here  are  oranges,  bananas,  grapefruit,  etc. 
Were  they  raised  here?  Why  not?  Where  were  they  raised?  This 
will  lead  to  the  study  of  California  (West),  Florida  (South),  and 
other  states  where  the  fruits  are  grown. 

Other  things  the  children  will  notice  are  coffee,  which  will  touch 
on  Brazil,  canned  fish,  will  lead  to  the  fishing  industry  on  Pacific  and 
Atlantic  coasts,  tea  from  Japan,  canning  industry,  milling  industry, 
packing  house  industry,  as  in  Chicago  and  Kansas  City,  industry  of 
drying  fruit,  grape  and  raisin  industry,  sugar,  etc.  Other  projects 
which  may  be  developed  are: 

(a)  Transportation — How  the  orange,  tea,  etc.,  get  to  our  gro- 
cery store  and  how  the  wheat  in  our  section  is  made  into  flour  ana 
sent  to  other  parts  of  the  country?    Here  we  will  develop  the  idea  of 
interdependence. 

(b)  Physical  geography.     Why  certain  fruits  are  grown  in  cer- 
tain places,  etc. 

(c)  Reading — In  order  to  find  out  where  the  various  products 

24 


come  from  the  childrn  will  have  to  be  able  to  read  and  will  get  much 
practice  along  this  line. 

(d)      Keeping   a   record   of    what   they    found   out    will    involve 
writing. 

An  Individual  Project 

Jennie  M.  Gordon 
Oakland,  California. 
SITUATION 

A  screen  porch  of  a  ranch  house. 

Six  gallons  of  heavy  rich  cream  in  a  large  barrel  churn  which  i* 
revolved  by  a  crank  turned  by  hand. 

A  boy  who  did  not  like  to  churn. 

Cream  ready  for  him  to  churn. 

PROBLEM 

How  to  get  awav  from  turning  ihat  crank. 

PURPOSE 

To  find  an  easier  way. 

PLAN 

1.  The  boy  took  a  solid  chair,  adjusted  the  churn  and  sat  down. 
He  tilted  his  chair  back  against  the  wall  started  the  churn,  and  kept 
it  revolving  by  foot  power  instead  of  hand  power. 

2.  He  thought  of  his  mother's  spinning  wheel,  which  was  driven 
by  foot  power,  whereupon  he  proceeded  to  make  a  treadle  in  order 
to  make  the  work  easier.    He  constructed  a  crude  treadle  of  wood  and 
fastened  it.  to  the  churn  after  the  manner  of  a  spinning  wheel. 

3.  While    testing    this    method    and    re-adjusting    the    bands    he 
thought  of  the  small  motor  outside  which  was  used  on  the  pumping 
plant.   He  changed  the  band  and  attached  a  belt  connected  to  the  motor 
on  to  the  crank.     The  motor  did  the  work. 

EXECUTION 

Butter  came.      Work  completed  on  time.      (Mother's  judgment.) 

VALUE 

The  boy  has  now  an  electric  plant,  and  all  cranks  are  turned  by 
electricity. 


"Our  Library" 

Minnie  E.  Walsh 

The  question  of  home-reading  in  the  6th,  7th  and  8th  grades  has 
developed  into  quite  a  problem  the  past  year.  In  the  light  of  what  I 
have  learned  about  the  problem-project  method,  or  principle,  I  feel 
that  it  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  solution  of  our  difficulties. 
The  plan  sounds  crude  as  here  stated  but,  as  I  understand  the  prin- 
ciple, it  grows  step  by  step  and  in  an  imaginary  situation  it  is  hard 
to  determine  what  the  different  steps  might  be. 

Our  course  of  study  furnishs  a  list  of  books  for  home-reading, 
and  requires  the  pupils  of  the  three  upper  grades  to  hand  in,  during 
the  year,  a  written  report  or  review  of  ten  of  these  books  which  they 

25 


have  read.  Difficulty  in  obtaining  books  and  the  written  requirements 
have  tended  to  defeat  the  aim  of  home  reading,  viz.,  to  foster  and 
encourage  a  desire  to  read  good  books. 

The  Public  Library  is  at  some  distance  from  the  school  and 
hence  it  is  inconvenient  for  pupils  to  go  there.  The  library  has 
endeavored  to  meet  the  situation  by  sending  to  outlying  schools  travel- 
ing libraries,  a  case  of  40  or  50  books  for  a  grade  containing  about 
4  or  5,  possibly  6  of  the  required  books.  Many  of  the  books  served 
but  one  purpose,  that  of  filling  the  case.  Last  year  the  Library  Com- 
mittee criticised  the  condition  of  books  returned  after  the  long  usage  by 
many  children  of  foreign  parentage.  Pupils  as  well  as-  teachers  and 
superintendent  felt  that  the  criticism  was  unjust. 

The  pupils  suggested  starting  a  Library  of  their  own.  I  was 
perfectly  willing  to  co-operate  and  asked  how  they  proposed  to  do  it. 
They  decided  upon  a  series  of  entertainmnts  to  be  given  every  other 
Friday  afternoon  in  the  School  Auditorium,  charging  25c  admis- 
sion. They  realized  how  the  people  in  their  district  (foreign  born), 
respond  to  such  things.  "Shall  it  be  just  a  6th,  7th  and  8th  grade 
Library?"  "No,  we  want  it  to  be  'Our  School  Library/  so  we  want 
all  the  teachers  and  pupils  to  help!" 

As  far  as  possible  the  school  subjects  were  to  be  so  planned  as 
to  work  in  with  the  idea,  making  use  of  Oral  English,  Dramatization, 
Music,  Physical  Exercises,  etc. 

The  entertainments  were  given  and  the  results  were  all  that  could 
be  desired.  We  are  now  ready  to  purchase  books.  The  project  carries 
over  and  furnishes  purposeful  activity  for  the  home-reading  and  for 
oral  and  written  English. 

Pupils  of  the  three  upper  grades  are  furnished  with  list  of  required 
books;  they  may  use  any  book  by  the  required  author.  Making  use 
of  the  Public  Libraries,  each  pupil  is  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
reading  of  one  book  a  month,  so  read  that  he  or  she  can  come  before 
the  class  and  give  an  interesting  review  of  the  book,  also  hand  to 
the  committee  a  written  report  on  the  book.  After  listening  to  the 
oral  reviews,  the  class  is  to  decide  which  books  they  would  like  for 
"Our  School  Library."  Pupils  will  be  led  to  feel  their  responsibility 
in  selecting  the  best  books  for  their  reading  and  making  the  best 
kind  of  review,  if  they  wish  the  class  to  select  their  book  for  the 
Library. 

The  written  reviews  are  to  be  passed  upon  by  a  committee  of  six, 
a  boy  and  a  girl  from  each  of  the  three  upper  grades,  elected  by  their 
respective  class.  This  committee  will  act  with  the  teacher  who  has 
charge  of  the  home-reading  as  she  has  to  mark  and  send  in  the  written 
reports  at  the  end  of  the  year.  If  a  written  report  does  not  "measure 
up,"  the  committee  returns  it  to  the  writer  with  suggestions  for  im- 
provement, before  the  book  can  be  purchased  for  "Our  Library." 

Another  committee  to  purchase  the  books  is  elected  by  the  pupils, 
possibly  3  or  4  members  from  each  of  the  upper  grades.  (The  Civic 
Class  takes  care  of  these  elections  using  the  Preferential  Ballot.)  This 
committee  looks  up  publishers,  price  lists,  etc.  After  consultation  with 

26 


the  principal,  they  have  power  to  make  all  arrangements  for  pur- 
chase of  books,  when  classes  have  read  and  received  enough,  books 
to  make  it  worth  while  to  order.  By  the  end  of  the  year  "Our  School 
Library"  will  be  well  started,  and  I  feel  that  the  home-reading  will 
be  given  a  stimulus  by  the  mere  fact  that  the  books  are  the  pupils' 
own. 


A  Mock  Trial  by  Eighth  Grade  Pupils 

G.  Sidney  Leach 
PROBLEM 

How  does  a  jury  (and  incidentally  a  court),  work? 

THE  APPROACH 

T.  Did  you  notice  in  the  paper  last  night  the  item  about  the 
burglars  who  were  caught  robbing  Smith's  house  on  Maple  Avenue? 
(Business  of  receiving  miscellaneous  strands  of  information  from 
some  of  the  pupils  who  live  near  by.) 

T.  I  wonder  what  will  be  done  to  them?  Pupils.  They'll  go 
to  jail. 

T.  Where  are  they  now,  then  ?  One  boy  says  they  are  now  in 
the  lock-up,  but  the  Recorder  will  send  them  to  the  County  Jail  and 
maybe  they'll  be  tried  there.  The  teacher  asks  why  they  are  not  tried 
in  our  town  and  finds  that  the  Recorder  can  not  really  try  anybody 
except  petty  offenders  like  automobile  speeders,  and  that  he  has  to  send 
the  bigger  cases  to  the  County  Court  to  be  tried.  (This  is  real 
information  to  the  teacher,  usually.) 

T.  That  is  very  interesting.  How  many  of  you  ever  saw  a 
regular  trial  in  a  real  court?  One  or  two  raised  their  hands. 

T.  How  many  would  like  to  go  with  me  to  Hackensack  some 
afternoon  and  see  a  trial?  We'll  go  there  instead  of  coming  to  school. 
Everybody  wants  to  go  except  a  few  of  the  girls.  A  few  afternoons 
later  they  go  and  see  a  trial. 

The  jury  had  been  partly  chosen  in  the  morning.  Two  jurors 
remained  to  be  chosen.  This  was  done  and  the  trial  was  held.  The 
evidence  was  very  clear  and  there  were  only  two  witnesses.  The 
case  was  finished,  the  judge  charged  the  jury  and  it  retired  to  delib- 
erate. After  half  an  hour  it  brought  in  a  verdict  of  "Guilty"  and  the 
prisoner  was  sentenced  to  six  months  in  jail. 

Next  day  the  class  met  for  civics  and  were  full  of  discussion 
concerning  the  case.  The  teacher  asked  if  they  would  like  to  have  a 
trial  of  their  own  in  a  real  court  of  their  own.  They  would,  very 
much.  Before  they  got  far  it  developed  that  no  one  had  seen  the  be- 
ginning of  the  trial  in  the  court  house.  One  boy  volunteered  to  find 
out  from  his  father  and  have  the  information  ready  for  the  class 
next  day.  Then  the  children  voted  for  judge  and  lawyers,  and  agreed 
that  the  rest  of  the  class  should  be  a  panel  from  which  the  jury  should 
be  chosen  to  try  the  case. 

It  now  developed  that  they  had  no  prisoner  and  no  charge  to  try 
him  for.  One  boy  volunteered  to  be  prisoner  and  a  committee  was 
elected  to  draw  up  an  indictment  against  him.  The  trial  was  to  be 
held  later  and  it  was  decided  that  in-as-much  as  the  trial  itself  would 

27 


take  in  nearly  the  entire  room,  they  should  get  permission  to  hold  it 
in  the  auditorium  and  invite  the  other  grammar  grades  to  attend. 

COMMENT 

The  above  applies  to  a  criminal  case.  It  could  be  varied  to  apply 
equally  well  to  a  civil  trial.  The  details  could  be  elaborated  and  made 
as  true  to  life  as  possible  or  they  could  be  made  more  informal,  if  it 
seemed  best. 

As  a  result  of  it  the  children  mighlp learn: 

1.  The  way  a  real  court  is  carried  on.      (Dramatizing  it  after 
seeing  the  County  Court  would  fix  it  still  more  firmly  in  mind.) 

2.  Something  of  written  composition   (on  the  part  of  those  who 
drew  up  the  accusation). 

3.  Ability  to   speak  correct   English    (on  the  part   of   the   lawyers, 
judge,  and  witnesses). 

4.  Power  to  judge  the  worth  of  statements — the  jury. 

5.  (Incidentally,  they  would  understand  very  clearly  the  workings 
of  a  jury  and  a  court  of  justice.) 

I  have  but  roughly  indicated  a  general  outline  and  have  no  doubt 
that  if  I  started  to  work  it  out  with  a  class,  it  would  have  to  be 
modified  at  places. 


A  Problem  in  History — Fourth  Grade 

Edith  Veggcbcrg,  Chicago  Public  Schools 
INTRODUCTION 

Discussion  of  the  life  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  took  place  in  class. 
It  was  found  that  he  was  a  favorite  of  the  Queen,  and  received  a  charter 
for  land  in  the  New  World.  But  before  sending  out  a  colony,  Raleigh 
sent  an  expedition  to  report  the  existing  conditions.  After  these 
precautions  were  taken  he  sent  out  the  colony,  but  his  efforts  were  a 
failure. 

PROBLEM  RAISED 

Why  did  the  colony  fail? 
COLLECTION  OF  MATERIAL 

1.  During  the  discussion  of  how  this  problem  can  be  solved,  the 
pupils  find  that  they  must  know  : 

a.  Size   of   colony. 

b.  Character  of  colony. 

c.  Purpose  of  colony. 

d.  Difficulties  of  colony. 

2.  The  pupils  are  then  given  time  to  look  up  the  necessary  mate- 
rial.    For  this  their  textbooks  and  reference  books  are  used. 

3.  Reports  and  discussion  of  the  material  take  place,  and  an  out- 
line  is  worked  out  on  the  board. 

a.  Size  of  colony. 

(1)  108  men,  but  no  women. 

(2)  Richard  Grenville,  Commander. 

(3)  Ralph  Lane,  Governor. 

28 


b.  Character  of  colony. 
Men  adventurers. 

c.  Purpose  of  colony. 

Plant  a  settlement  to  find  gold. 

d.  Difficulties  of  colony. 

(1)  Men  were  cruel  to  Indians. 

(2)  Food  became  scarce. 

4.  At  this  point  a  subordinate  problem  arises :    Why  did  the  food 
become  scarce?     Through  reading,  skillful  questioning  on  the  part  of 
the  teacher,  good  thinking  on  the  part  of  the  pupils,  it  was  found  that : 

a.  Colonists    took    only    enough    food    for    the    voyage    to 
America. 

b.  Land  had  to  be  cleared  before  any  crops  could  be  planted. 

c.  Time  was  required  to  mature  any  crops  that  might  have 
been  planted. 

d.  Indians  refused  to  give  colonists  food  because  of  cruelty 
shown  them. 

e.  Colonists  wasted  time  looking  for  gold. 

5.  The  only  way  the  colonists  could  solve  the  food  problem  was 
to  send  to  England  for  supplies.     Grenville  went  but  while  he  was 
gone  the  colonists  searched  for  gold,  and  found  only  hardships.     In 
the  midst  of  their  despair,  Sir  Francis  Drake  arrived,  and  agreed  to 
leave  food   for  the  colonists.     But  a  storm  arose,  and  the  colonists 
lost  heart,  and  returned  with  Drake  to  England. 

PROBLEM  SOLVED 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  colony  failed  because  : 

1.  The  men  were  adventurers,  and  not  home  builders. 

2.  The  men  were  not  far-sighted  enough  to  make  provisions  for 
home  and  food. 

3.  Colonists  were  unfriendly  to  the  Indians. 

4.  Failure  to  find  gold. 

5.  Lack  of  persistency. 


Ulysses  in  the  Sixth  Grade 

By  Bessie  Morris,,  Chicago  Public  Schools 
INTRODUCTION 

a.  In  story  form  and  as  dramatically  as  possible  the  teacher  told 
the  story  of  the  blind  poet.  Homer,  who  traveled  throughout  Greece 
from  village  to  village,  singing  the  songs  of  each.     These  songs  were 
collected  by  a  Roman  tyrant,  who  had  them  put  into  two  volumes. 
Sympathy  for  this  blind  musician  was  aroused  and  the  children  wanted 
to  hear  the  rest  of  the  story. 

b.  This  story  was  written  many  years  ago  when  the  people  believed 
in  many  gods.     One  child  said  that  in  the  stories  of  the  Norse  Heroes 
they  had  read  about  the  gods.     The  class  made  a  list  of  the  gods  and 
what  they  stood  for.    This  was  a  good  point  at  which  to  bring  in  some 
of  the  important  Greek  gods. 

c.  Of  the  Iliad  only  those  portions  which  involved  Ulysses  were 

29 


selected.      The   class   was   tense    with    interest    during   the    telling   of 
'[Helen's  Capture,"  and  "Ulysses  Plowing  the  Seashore." 
KMEDIATE  PROBLEMS 

The  children  at  the  conclusion  of  the  story  (Iliad)  were  eager  to 
know  : 

a.  What  became  of  Ulysses,  his  friends,  his  family. 

b.  How  he  got  home. 

c.  What  relation  the  gods  had  to  Ulysses. 
SOURCE  OF  MATERIAL 

To  answer  these  we  consulted  Church's  "Story  of  the  Odyssey." 
The  children  brought  a  number  of  books  from  home,  among  which 
frere:  mythologies,  stories  by  Hawthorne  and  Baldwin,  Round  the 
5Tear  in  Myth  and  Song,  Palmer's  Odyssey.  The  children  elected  their 
librarian,  who  gave  out  the  books  and  examined  them  after  each 
person  used  them. 
CARRYING  OUT  THE  PROJECT. 

a.  In  the  course  of  the  story  problems  came  up,  and  the  children 
during  recitation  made  a  list  of  those  facts  which  were  not  clear  to 
them.  These  were  used  as  our  topics.  In  assigning  them  the  children 
were  asked  to  volunteer  for  the  topic  in  which  they  were  most 
interested. 

1.  Individual  Topics. 

a.  The  gods  appeared  like  mortals  but  just  how  did  they  differ? 

(1)  Gods  had  power  to  change  their  appearance  and  become 
invisible. 

(2)  They  determined  fate  of  mortals. 

(3)  Food  was  nectar  and  ambrosia,  etc. 

The  child  who  made  this  report  gave  illustrations  from  the 
Odyssey  to  explain  his  statements. 

b.  Basis  of  fact  for  this  story. 

c.  Children  liked  to  look  up  myths  connected  with  characters  men- 
tioned in  the  story.   In  this  way  the  fascinating  story  of  the  underworld 
.was  evolved,  and  the  children  eagerly  searched  for  available  material 

on  Pluto  and  his  queer  kingdom. 

(1)  Pupils  brought  pictures  of  Cerberous,  etc. 

(2)  One  artistic  person  read  a  few  verses  of  poetry  about 
Charon,  the  ferryman  who  ferries  souls  over  the  river  of 
darkness  to  await  judgment. 

2.  Group  Topics. 

a.  Geographic  setting  of  story. 

( 1 )   Children  worked  in  small  groups.     Each  group  studied 

about  a  different  portion  of  land  mentioned  in  the  story. 

To  bring  out  their  subject  the  children  used  many  legends 

peculiar  to  the  country. 


(2)   A  second  group  selected  their  material  from  the  recital 
tions  of  first  group  and  took  up  the  geographic  f actor , 
directly  affecting  lives  of  the  characters  and  ho\v. 
1).    I  low    the    Odyssey    in    general    makeup    differed    from    othe 
stories  the  class  had  read. 

c.  Sports.  The  boys  volunteered  for  this  and  one  made  a  discu: 
of  cardboard ;  another  brought  a  toy  spear ;  another  made  a  tim 
chariot.  After  their  explanations  they  demonstrated  the  use  of  them.l 

CONCLUSION  AND  APPLICATION 

a.  The  children  were  too  immature  to  take  notes  in  any  systematic 
manner  so  they  wrote  compositions  on  the  reports  given  in  class. 

b.  The  reports  during  the  discussion  period  were  critisized  by  the 
children  from  the  standpoint  of  good  English. 

c.  The  story  was  studied  according  to  incident  rather  than  chap- 
ter.    Each  child  after  class  discussion  of  the  incident   wrote  a  one 
sentence  summary  of  the  incident.    On  the  next  day  these  were  written 
on  the  board  and  discussed.   The  children  decided  which  summary  was 
best.     These  were  kept  in  their  note  books  with  pictures   (when  pos- 
sible to  obtain  them),  of  the  characters  mentioned.     Those  who  had 
gone  on  an  excursion  to  the  Art  Institute  wrote  in  their  note  books 
descriptions  of  the  statues  of  these  people. 

d.  Dramatizing  an  incident. 

The  chi1  ren  decided  which  incident  they  wished  to  dramatize. 
They  chose  T1vsses  at  the  Palace  of  Alcinous." 

(  •  hild  wio      a  modernized  version  of  the  incident 

...  j)    7  form.     0*1  e  recitation  period   was  used   in   ex- 
plaining this  form. 

(2)  The    children   elected   a   committee   and    they    with    the 
teacher  went  over  the  manuscripts  submitted. 

(3)  Class  voted  on  the  one  preferred. 

(4)  From   previous   exercises   in   oral    reading   the   children 
easily  selected  the  characters  and  arranged  for  rehearsal 
outside  of  school. 

(5)  Owing  to  peculiar  conditions  the  time  for  art  could  not  be 
utilized  in  designing  the  costumes.     To  accomplish  this. 
the  children  organized  a  "Greel^.Club"  outside  of  school 
and  prepared  their  costumes. 


31 


Cj  at/  /or  a 
PAMPHLET  BINDER 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Stockton,  Calif. 


14  DAY  USE 

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(C7097slO)476B 


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University  of  California 

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